Entries are now open for the 24th annual Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Awards. As one of Ireland’s foremost technology award programmes, the awards rank Ireland’s 50 fastest growing indigenous technology companies based on revenue growth over the last four years, celebrating innovation and entrepreneurship.
The list features both private and public listed technology companies that have demonstrated creative strategies, sound management practices and marketplace vision, driving them to achieve the status of high-growth leaders.
Speaking at the launch of this year’s programme, James Toomey, partner and Fast 50 programme lead at Deloitte, who is leading the programme for the first time this year, said:
“I’m very excited to be leading the Fast 50 programme this year which showcases the growth of technology businesses in Ireland. This year, tech companies have faced numerous challenges from increased costs to a slowdown in the global economy. Despite this, sentiment in the indigenous sector remains strong. There have been significant market developments propelling the industry forward including the more mainstream use of AI, advancements in cloud computing and Internet of Things.
“Working with technology companies every day on complex transactions, I see first-hand the hard work that goes into building and growing a business. Our annual Fast 50 awards are a fantastic opportunity to recognise some of Ireland’s fastest growing technology companies and establish a benchmark for how the indigenous tech industry is performing.”
David Shanahan, partner, who, since becoming Head of Deloitte Private, has handed over the Fast 50 reins to James, said: “Over my past five years leading Fast 50, it has been exciting to see such an incredible range of successful and innovative Irish technology businesses raising unprecedented levels of funding, scaling overseas and having such a positive impact on the Irish economy and wider society.”
This year’s awards programme will include several award categories that companies can enter in addition to the overall ranking as well as introducing a new “Rising Star” award. The Rising Star award in association with Enterprise Ireland will be awarded to a company who demonstrates a promising growth trajectory and the potential for inclusion in the Fast 50 rankings in years to come. Companies being considered for this award have operating revenues accounting for a minimum of two years and less than four years.
Growing New Technology Awardin association with Google: This award recognises a company that has created or introduced a new or innovative product or service to international markets, which helped grow their business over the last four years.
Impact Awardin association with Meta: This award recognises a company that has made a significant impact within the current year.
Women in Technology Advocate Award in association with NetSuite: This award will be presented to an individual who has demonstrated through their actions that they are an advocate for increasing participation by, and promotion of, women in the technology sector.
Scale Up Awardin association with Scale Ireland: This award recognises a company that has demonstrated an impressive ability to scale up/expand overseas over the last four years.
Financial Services Innovation Award in association with Financial Services Ireland: This award will recognise a company with an innovative product or services that is having a disruptive impact within the financial services industry.
Last year’s top ten featured seven new entrants to the awards. Fintech company Swoop placed fourth and CEO and Founder Andrea Reynolds was awarded the Advocate for Women in Technology Award. Swoop is a global platform supporting SMEs by bringing their business data into one place to garner insights and be instantly matched to eligible finance, as well as assess their spend on cost categories such as energy, banking and FX.
The Diversity in Tech Awards finalists for 2023 have been announced today. The event in association with J.P. Morgan is set to take place on Wednesday, 27th September 2023, at the RDS Concert Hall, Dublin. Over 400 executives from Ireland’s thriving international tech community will be in attendance. The evening’s programme will also include a keynote address by Norah Patten an Irish Aeronautical Engineer about her experience breaking the glass ceiling and a panel discussion entitled The ROI of DEI: Driving Business Profitability through Diversity and Inclusion featuring Steven Fuller of Race In STEM, Angelika Sharygina of Mindguardian, Kyran O’Mahoney of IA Labs and a representative of J. P Morgan.
Since launching in 2018, The Diversity in Tech Awards has highlighted the shift in companies making workplaces more diverse and inclusive, whilst also recognising their efforts to narrow the gender gap. This has been achieved through celebrating Irish women who are driving IT excellence, innovation, leadership and overall success in the tech industry.
This year, in recognition for the efforts of promoting diversity and narrowing the gender gap, the awards have been split into two categories, Diversity in Tech and Women in Tech.
Please see finalists and categories below:
Diversity categories and finalists
Diversity Role Model Award (sponsored by IAS Integral Ad Science) – Accenture (Dublin), Amnexis (Dublin), eBay (Dublin), Merck (Dublin), NCBI – Working for people with Sight Loss (Dublin), Tenable (Dublin), Trinnovo Group (United Kingdom).
Disability inclusion Award (sponsored by Carelon Global Solutions) – CPL (Dublin), Employers for Change, The Open Doors Initiative (Dublin), EY (United Kingdom), Fidelity Investments (Dublin), Inclusion and Accessibility Labs (Dublin), SAP SE (Germany)
Cultural Inclusion Award – Carelon Global Solutions Ireland (Limerick), Cognizant Technology Solutions (Dublin), eBay (Dublin), Fidelity Investments (Dublin), LinkedIn Ireland (Dublin), Version 1 (Dublin)
Health & Wellness Award – Axonista Ltd (Dublin), Carelon Global Solutions Ireland (Limerick), EY (Dublin), LearnUpon (Dublin), MongoDB (Dublin), Tata Consultancy Services (Dublin)
Social Impact Award (sponsored by ESB) – Chainlink Labs (United Kingdom), Deloitte (Dublin), Innovate Communities (Dublin), The Big Idea (Dublin), Version 1 (Dublin)
Diverse Company of the Year (sponsored by Oracle) – CPL (Dublin), eBay(Dublin), EY (United Kingdom), Fiserv (Dublin), Google (Dublin), MongoDB (Dublin), Salesforce Ireland (Dublin), SAP SE (Germany)
Women In Tech categories and finalists
Tech Leadership Award (sponsored by FTI Consulting) – Fiserv (Dublin), Inclusio (Dublin), KPMG (United Kingdom), Meta (Saudi Arabia), Microsoft (Dublin), Version 1 (Dublin), Vodafone Ireland (Dublin)
Entrepreneurship Award (sponsored by Fiserv)- EudaOrg (Dublin), Online Buzzing (Dublin), Platform55 (Dublin), ProMotion Rewards (Dublin), shareclub (Dublin), Technological University Dublin (Dublin)
Digital Transformation Award – Dell (Dublin), Carelon Global Solutions Ireland (Limerick), Citi (United Kingdom), EY (Dublin), J.P. Morgan Chase (United Kingdom) Meta (Saudi Arabia)
Trailblazer Award – Fidelity Investments (Dublin), Rent the Runway (Dublin), Johnson & Johnson (Dublin), Meta (Dublin), Mission Unstoppable (Dublin), MongoDB (Dublin), The Big Idea (Dublin), Women in AI (Dublin)
Young Female STEM Pioneer (sponsored by Mongo DB) – CodLad(Dublin), EY (Dublin), Open College Network (United Kingdom), University College Dublin (Dublin), Workday (Dublin)
Rising Star Award – ESB (Dublin), EY (Dublin), Fidelity Investments (Dublin), Galvia (Galway), Inclusion and Accessibility Labs (Dublin), Revolut (Dublin), Version 1 (Dublin), Version 1 (Dublin)
Data Scientist Award (sponsored by J.P. Morgan) – CodLad (Dublin), Ericsson (Dublin), EY (Dublin), EY (Dublin), Women in AI (Dublin)
Mentorship Award – Carelon Global Solutions Ireland (Limerick), Deloitte Ireland (Dublin), Fidelity Investments (Dublin), IADT (Dublin), IBM (Dublin), Tenable (Dublin), Verizon Connect (Dublin), Workday (Dublin)
Finalists for the Diversity in Tech Awards are chosen by a judging panel from a wide range of corporate, not-for-profit and consultancy organisations. Some of this year’s judges include Erica Ryan – Regional VP of MongoDB, Lorraine Deschamps – Head of Corporate Citizenship with Fiserv, Gráinne Bryan – Senior Managing Director of Technology with FTI Consulting, Vessy Tasheva – Founder & CEO of Vessy.com and Sheree Atcheson – Global Diversity & Inclusion Senior Exec with Valtech.
The Diversity in Tech Awards Programme also hosts the Grace Hopper Award along with the Diversity Impact Award sponsored by Tata Consultancy Services. The DIA accolade recognises not-for-profit organisations that have demonstrated exceptional initiative to promote inclusion in the workplace. The Grace Hopper Award honours a female STEM professional whose exceptional achievements and outstanding contributions have made a lasting impact on technology, society, and their profession.
To see the full list of finalists, please see HERE.
Announcing the finalists, Tracey Carney, Managing Director of the Diversity in Tech Awards said: “We are extremely excited to bring the Diversity in Tech Awards back to the RDS this year. Since the awards were created in 2018 as the Women in Tech Awards, the event focused on promoting better balance in tech. In 2020, we pivoted to the Diversity in Tech Awards, and while continuing to keep women in tech as a core part of the agenda, it has grown into a programme celebrating all facets of diversity within the tech industry. The event is not only about celebrating excellence, but also about sharing knowledge and experience. The calibre of finalists this year is exceptional, and we can’t wait to congratulate each and every one of the amazing finalists joining us in September.”
The European Patent Office (EPO) announced that Irish inventors Rhona Togher and Eimear O’Carroll are the winners in the ‘SMEs’ category of the European Inventor Award 2023. Selected from over 600 candidates, these inventors created an advanced acoustic material that reduces noise to address chronic sleep issues.
“We are honoured to win the European Inventor Award in the ‘SMEs’ category and would like to express our sincere gratitude to the European Patent Office. This award recognises many years of hard work and commitment to making the world a quieter place. It is a genuine privilege to be acknowledged alongside so many noteworthy inventors who have made such significant contributions to their fields,” say Togher and O’Carroll.
According to the European Environment Agency (EEA) approximately 20% of the EU population lives in areas with unacceptable noise and vibration levels.High noise levels have been linked to poor sleep and higher instances of heart problems. Due to noise pollution, the EEA estimates that 22 million people across Europe currently suffer from chronic high annoyance, whilst 6.5 million suffer chronic high sleep disturbance. Exposure to loud noise can also cause high blood pressure, heart disease, sleep disturbances, and stress.
A sound solution for millions of people
Togher and O’Carroll’s invention, SoundBounce™, is a composite technology that reduces the negative effects of loud noise. It consists of a responsive material housed within a cellular structure that responds to agitation by becoming liquid and absorbing energy. One of its innovative features is the invention’s cellular structure; the second is a thixotropic gel (capable of liquefying when agitated and resolidifying when allowed to stand) placed inside the cells. Once sealed, they work together to dampen sound, reducing noise transmission from one space to another.This new material can also be integrated into machinery and vehicles to reduce noise output. It can be used in the automotive, construction, aerospace and home appliance industries.
This material is particularly effective at low frequencies, which present a significant challenge connected to products with engines, vibrations, and airflow. SoundBounce’s thinner material means that aeroplanes or vehicles using it could be lighter, thus reducing fuel consumption and leaving more space. In addition to the environmental advantages related to noise reduction, the materials used to make SoundBounce have a low environmental impact as they are non-toxic, and recyclable at end of life. Since SoundBounce was created, Togher and O’Carroll’s company has developed partnerships with renowned organisations such as the European Space Agency.
“Receiving this award serves as a reminder of the importance of innovation and the impact it can have on our society. We hope that this recognition will inspire others, especially young girls, to pursue their own inventions and to continue to push the boundaries of what is possible,” say Togher and O’Carroll.
The Irish duo behind the innovation have been named winners in the ‘SMEs’ category for this year’s European Inventor Award, which recognises outstanding inventors with inventions patented in Europe.All the winners of the 2023 edition of the European Inventor Award were announced at a hybrid ceremony in Valencia (Spain)
The innovative and world-leading audio brand Edifier continues its tradition of manufacturing high quality, innovative, audio products. As recognition, it announces that it has taken six awards at the prestigious Visual Grand Prix (VGP) Summer Awards 2023 in Japan. The Edifier QD35, MR4, WH950NB, W820NB Plus have been awarded the highest honour of a VGP 2023 SUMMER Gold Award whilst the G5000, G5BT CAT were recognized in the VGP 2023 SUMMER Award Winner category.
The Japanese VGP Awards are well known as the “Oscar in the Audio Industry”. They are the largest, most authoritative audio-visual awards in Asia. It is held on an annual basis by Ongen Publishing Co. Ltd., one of the most prominent publishing companies in Japan with an expertise in audio/visual related devices and state-of-art technologies. Launched in 1987, the awards bring together respected reviews from dozens of countries, all to offer an authoritative reference guide for ordinary consumers looking to make informed purchases. The VGPs are often recognized as the highest authority award in Asia’s audio-visual industry and mark a significant recognition for Edifier’s ground-breaking work in the industry.
“We are once again extremely honored to have won 6 awards in the VGP 2023 SUMMER Awards”, stated Stanley Wen, Edifier’s CTO. “Edifier strives to deliver outstanding sound experiences – our aim is to combine the highest audio quality with affordability. These awards are recognition that Edifier’s core values coupled with the expertise of its technical and manufacturing teams reaffirms the company’s determination to be amongst the leaders in the audio-visual industry.”
The Edifier QD35 was one of the Gold award winners. The QD35 is an all-in-one music system certified to both “Hi-Resolution Audio” and “Hi-Resolution Audio Wireless. It has support for LDAC and features stunning ‘Lumia Art’ effects making it
a show-off speaker that is very popular with home gamers who want to add pulsating lighting effects to enhance their gaming experiences.
Another VGP Summer gold award winner was the MR4 Powered Studio Monitor. With the 1-inch silk dome tweeter and 4-inch diaphragm woofers, the MR4 delivers pure, accuratesound – perfect for those who want a pair of studio speakers for content creation or for those users who simply want to enjoy top quality audio.
The WH950NB wireless noise-cancelling over ear headphones feature “Hi Resolution Audio” and “Hi Resolution Audio Wireless” Certification plus LDAC Codec and advanced 4-Mic ENC for the best voice and audio clarity. The WH950NBs are equipped with intelligent active noise cancellation algorithms that remove surrounding noise. Users can choose between ambient sound or wind reduction in different scenarios to create the ideal listening environment.
The final award winner in the Gold award category was the W820NB Plus. The W820NB Plus is again certified with Hi-Res Audio and Hi-Res Wireless Audio and provides a high-frequency bandwidth of up to 40kHz. With up to 49 hours of non-stop playtime, users can enjoy music with enhanced details, a wider sound field and richer emotional depth for that rounded listening experience.
Recognized in the 2023 SUMMER award category were the Edifier G5000 gaming speakers and the G5BT CAT Hi-Res certified gaming headset. With their acoustic configuration, the G5000 2.0 Hi-Res speakers can achieve 24bit/192kHz, providing realistic and impressive sound that delivers powerful bass and clear trebles for that
immersive gaming experience. The G5BT CAT headset is equipped with PixArt Bluetooth 5.2 and a low-latency game chipset, providing the ultimate mobile gaming audio.
The VGP awards recognize excellence and honour products that make a difference to the industry through state-of-the-art technology and design. Edifier continues to develop and grow its product ranges. The company has registered international trademarks in more than 80 countries and regions, and has a global-based workforce with distribution partners and resellers worldwide.
CWSI, Ireland’s most experienced mobile and cloud security specialist, today announces that it has been named Company of the Year at the 2023 Tech Excellence Awards. The awards, which are the premier awards for the technology industry in Ireland, have been running for more than two decades and recognise excellence in the design, implementation and support of technology solutions and services in Ireland.
CWSI received the award during a black-tie ceremony at the Royal Marine Hotel in Dun Laoghaire, in front of over 450 attendees. It was recognised for its impressive growth and expansion across Ireland, the UK and increasingly in mainland Europe. Over the past year, CWSI received significant new investment to fund ambitious growth plans to make strategic acquisitions, launch innovative new services and increase headcount including senior business leaders joining the team.
Having secured the funding, CWSI proceeded to acquire two companies in mainland Europe in quick succession. It acquired BLAUD, a Dutch mobility and security specialist based in Utrecht and mobco, a modern workplace and mobility specialist based in Belgium and Luxembourg. Both companies have been successfully integrated into the CWSI group.
These acquisitions served to further accelerate CWSI’s growth. In 2022, CWSI services reached 500,000 active end-users, and it plans to double this to 1 million by 2025 through its enhanced service proposition, expertise and geographical reach.
In addition to its Company of the Year award, CWSI was also shortlisted alongside eir evo for Public Sector Project of the Year for their work together on securely mobilising An Garda Siochana.
Ronan Murphy, CEO and co-founder, CWSI, said:“We are so proud to have been named 2023 Company of the Year at the highly prestigious Tech Excellence Awards. The past year has been hugely successful as we grew from strength to strength with the addition of so many new customers, team members and of course BLAUD and mobco bolstering our European presence. We remain a very ambitious company with continued growth plans and we’re very excited for the future.”
Powerful problem solvers and creative critical thinkers – students from across Ireland have learned one of the most in-demand skills in the world, as teams from Carlow, Offaly and Kilkenny have won the top prizes in Ireland’s national creative thinking programme The Big Idea.
Team Community Cara from Borris Vocational School won the overall award having journeyed through the 14-week problem-solving programme, exploring the issue of hidden poverty and developing a solution with potential for real social impact. They developed an idea for an app to support people living in poverty in Ireland to help connect them with local support.
The standard of projects submitted this year in the Youthreach and Community Training Centre (CTC) pilot programme was outstanding and in recognition of the innovation shown across this programmetwo additional Big Idea national prizes were awarded.
The Youthreach & CTC Climate Change winner was Team YR – Kilkenny Youthreach, who designed an app that would use augmented reality to educate primary school students about the impacts of climate change in their local environment.
The Youthreach & CTC Mental Health Award was won by Team HopOut from Tullamore Community Training Centre in Offaly, who proposed a community hub promoted by a drink’s coaster with a QR code to help support younger men with their mental health.
The Big Idea is delivered through the Leaving Cert Applied (LCA) and Transition Year (TY) programmes, as well as an expanded pilot Youthreach and Community Training Centre (CTC) programme. It was delivered across 22 counties this year, with a successful pilot programme trialled in Northern Ireland.
Students were tasked with working through the four Ds of the creative process – discover, define, develop and deliver – focusing on solutions for issues they identified as major stressors in their lives. These were mental health, climate change, hidden poverty, displaced people, and diversity and inclusion, all aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). With the help of hundreds of Big Idea mentors from a range of sectors, they develop a digital experience, product, service, space or place, or a tech solution to tackle that issue.
Winning ideas
The Climate Change Award went to the Eco Activists from Scoil Bernadette in Cork, who delivered the idea of a wildflower garden at the school, which is a safe space for students and their hero Brian The Bee.
Sarah’s Strength won the Mental Health Award for St Patrick’s College Dungannon in Tyrone for the website ‘It Takes Strength’, which would support university students’ mental health and wellbeing by offering relevant information and peer-to-peer advice on topics such as financial worries or time management issues.
Team Immoderate at Mercy Secondary School in Ballymahon in Longford won the Hidden Poverty Award for their development of an idea for an app ‘Incognation’, to build an online community and provide information, resources and support for people experiencing hidden poverty.
Borris Vocational School in Carlow had a second winner as Team Cabhrú wanted to develop a comprehensive multi-lingual website for the Displaced People category to support refugees to Ireland and offer information on education, housing and employment, as well as a guide to help them settle in.
Meanwhile, Team The Bois at Meánscoil San Nioclás in Waterford won the Diversity and Inclusion Award for an inclusive mental health journal called ‘Mind Bloggling’, which supports the emotional wellbeing of young people from all backgrounds.
Teachers and tutors were also celebrated, as teacher Patricia Dunphy of Mercy Secondary School in Waterford was crowned TY/LCA/NI Creativity Champion, with tutor at Tullamore Community Training Centre Lynsey McCabe winning the Youthreach and CTC Creativity Champion award.
Elevating the national skill base
Founder and CEO of The Big Idea, Kim Mackenzie-Doyle says the winners were selected by judges based on the recognition and celebration of their journey through the creative Big Idea process, in addition to their innovative and inspiring ideas which have potential for real social impact.
“A massive congratulations to all of the students across the 22 counties who have journeyed through the 2023 programme. They have learned transformative creative skills and thanks to the help of our industry mentors, they can continue to think big and use creative thinking to solve problems and develop solutions – whether in life, college or work.”
The award-winning product designer who founded Ireland’s creative thinking programme, The Big Idea in 2021 says it is more than just an educational programme, “it’s a movement to elevate the national skill base and democratise the world’s most in-demand skill – creative thinking.”
Kim says the programme is brought to life by the Creativity Champions, teachers, staff, facilitators and coordinators who bring the Big Idea to life across classrooms and workshops across Ireland.
“They create a safe space for students and learners to experience creativity in action. They empower young people to find their voice and share their Big Ideas.”
EPAM Ireland is a partner of The B!G Idea and provided 13 mentors to work alongside the students, helping to bridge the gap between industry and education by providing practical advice on how to develop their innovative ideas and projects. Commenting on the programme, Martin Byrne, VP and Country Manager at EPAM Ireland, said: “Partnering with The B!G Idea was a no-brainer for us. Equipping the next generation of students with high-level problem-solving skills to tackle complex global issues like climate change and hidden poverty is exactly what Ireland and the technology industry needs right now. Highlighted by the fact that climate change was the #1 topic that these students wanted to address, sustainability is a huge issue in modern society and one that we are passionate about in EPAM. Our mentors and I are very excited to see how some of these Ideas progress, and we look forward to continuing the relationships we have built after the Showcase.”
Since the programme launched in 2021, it has already reached 6,500 learners, supported by over 750 industry mentors globally to help unlock valuable industry knowledge to help build the confidence and problem-solving skills of young people.
The winners, along with a selection of Big Ideas from the programme will go on to take part in a Big Idea accelerator in September. The Big Exhibition which includes every project submitted this year is now live at thebigidea.ie, where schools and mentors can also sign up for the next term.
11 February 2023 marks Global Movie Day, which was established to celebrate our favourite films, and sits alongside the Oscars. With smartphones driving the digital world, the film industry is also taking notice of how phones can capture award-winning videos.
As early as 2011, movies like “Olive” which was created on a Nokia N8 smartphone were Oscar contenders; while BAFTA recognised a short film Missed Call shot on iPhone X. More recently oscar-winning filmmaker, Charlie Kaufman shot a short film called Jackals and Fireflies, using Samsung’s Galaxy S22 Ultra smartphone.
Every year on the second Saturday of February, people share their excitement over movies with the hashtag #GlobalMovieDay and you can join in too, with inspiration from gimbal and lighting manufacturer Zhiyun. The firm recently launched its Make It Real short film collection and here outlines 10 must-try tips on taking better smartphone films.
Bring subject and scene to life with natural lighting
Lighting the subject and the scene is everything. This does several things, like drawing the viewer’s attention, establishing the mood, and also ensuring the audience can see what you want them to see. You can do that either using natural light or by creating a basic lighting setup that illuminates your subject sufficiently. Take a test shot after your frame is set to determine how it looks on camera.
The easiest lighting option is to use the sun; both powerful and free. Letting the sun illuminate your subjects provides a beautiful, even light that helps hide blemishes and brings out the colours in their eyes. However, the sun isn’t always available, whether hidden behind a cloud or shooting in the dark, so film makers should use whatever light is accessible to capture the most flattering shots. Shooting on cloudy days or in the shade or using a very sheer white curtain can help soften sunlight if it’s too harsh.
Use LED lighting in indoor and low light set ups
There are key lighting don’ts to avoid if you want the best possible shot of subject and backdrop. While the sun is an awesome tool to illuminate your subject, it can cause unwanted shadows. Ensure your back is to the sun to avoid your subject ending up as a silhouette. On the topic of lighting your subject, avoid heavily backlit-settings. Smartphone cameras without advanced HDR capabilities usually can’t see the same detail that the naked eye can and in playback, will output footage with a bright light haloing a dark figure with often no discernable features. To avoid this situation, try configuring a basic light setup.
If you don’t have access to natural light, it may be tempting to use bright LED flash from a phone. However, this can result in overexposed images and washed-out colours and should be avoided. As an alternative, use some fill lights that are designed to render colours faithfully.
Finally, avoid mixing all your light sources. When setting up video lighting, fight the urge to use everything you have. Using competing colour temperatures (think: warm light from a lamp combined with cool sunlight) isn’t ideal as your camera will try to adjust to the new white balances. As a solution, daylight colour bulbs (5,000-6,000K) are available but when in doubt, stick with natural lighting.
Focus on the detail
Think about your story telling. What do you want to portray and how could that be done through imagery that adds interest and depth to your narrative?
For instance, as well as light, our eyes are drawn to reflections. Look for opportunities to play with them in videos such as puddles, larger bodies of water, mirrors, sunglasses, drinking glasses, and metallic surfaces are just a few. Elsewhere, close-up images that capture small, intricate, and delicate details can add interest to scenes. Explore textures and patterns like peeling paint, rough tree bark, a serrated rooftop or a dirt road.
4. Change up how you frame each shot
Placement of your subject in a film is important. Completely fill the frame with your subject or for added interest film them slightly off-centre to create a more visually interesting scene. Play around and see what looks best. Let’s look at one of the most basic principles of film composition; the rule of thirds.
Picture a 3-by-3 grid laid over the field you’re filming. Instead of placing your subject right in the middle of the shot, you should place your subject along one of the lines of the grid. The points where the lines cross are particularly strong areas of visual focus, so if you can, do place important elements of the video there.
5. Unleash creativity with smart editing
You can edit footage directly on your phone if it already has editing software built in or by downloading an editing app. For those of you using a gimbal, there are plenty of apps with a bunch of clever effects that come with them.
The ZY Cami app for example can provide an intuitive solution for the creation and editing of video content. Why not let your imagination run wild with a 4K video recording at 60 frames per second? Alternatively, explore panorama mode to capture the beauty of landscapes. Timelapse, hyperlapse, and motion lapse modes add dimensions and perspectives to your movie.
6. Accessorise with add-on lenses
There are so many great accessories available now in smartphone video kits which can enhance your footage with new effects.
Add-on lenses are a great place to start. A filtered lens will give a tint to the scene, and incite a certain emotional response from your audience. Certain add-on lenses can bring cinematic depth of field to your shooting, others can create a fishbowl effect, which is often used in action sport filming like skateboard videos.
7. Stabilise your shots
A gimbal is essential for smartphone filmmaking and essential to avoiding shaky footage that looks amateurish and disorienting and will take hours to correct in post-production.
The gimbal head is an accessory you can purchase to add to your tripod, giving you the ability to move the camera around the scene while maintaining that necessary stability. The grip rig is slightly different as it is a handheld accessory with a similar purpose—stabilise the image. This type of device may be better suited for videos that require a lot of movement or action.
For example the SMOOTH 5S gimbal has helped filmmakers simplify their shooting and unleash their creativity, especially for small teams with limited budget. You can also find more film inspiration to help you create here.
8. Create cinematic sound
Sound is crucial if you want to keep your audience engaged. There are many options allowing you to capture quality audio externally for your smartphone footage. The simple addition of an audio recorder, boom mic, and even wireless microphones can make a huge difference to sound quality.
Audio recording devices can pick up every little sound, even an air conditioning unit or a train in the distance. With this in mind, as well as audio enhancing tools, pay attention to the locations where you are shooting. Locations with high background noise such as train stations will mean you have to deal with train and announcements noise. When indoors, check for echo and reverberation from the hard surfaces or other distracting sounds.
9. Bring extra charging power
Be aware that your smartphone battery is not going to last for a full feature film– especially if you’re spending hours shooting footage. The last thing that you want is your phone dying in the middle of a crucial scene.
Before filming, ensure that your phone is fully charged. Pack a backup charger, preferably a wireless one to allow yourself to continue filming even if your battery starts to get low.
10. Back it up
Always back up your footage onto an external device just in case you lose the movie saved to your smartphone. Simply use an external memory card or upload your film to your computer and create a copy of everything for extra assurance. An external memory card will also give you extra storage space if your phone is short on it.
The contest was hosted by Zhiyun, with Nikon as the title sponsor and partners including RØDE, Aputure, YC onion, Desview, SmallRig, iFootage, and Lexar, among others. The 2022 version attracted 1,429 entries, and 25 groups of entries awarded prizes and now we are excited to see what 2023 will bring.
ZHIYUN, the world’s pioneering gimbal innovator for cameras and smartphones, has been awarded the prestigious GOOD DESIGN® Awards for its CRANE M2S gimbal.
The CRANE M2S won in the electronics category of the 72nd edition of the awards. Approximately 4,000 shortlisted entries from 52 countries were judged by independent and international jurors with the awards given to products with the highest design quality and innovation.
The gimbal joins ZHIYUN’s range of award-winning products and offers a compact design that feels completely natural in the hand during use. With a built-in 0.66-inch display offering real-time status and operating parameters of the camera and gimbal, users benefit from an at-a-glance view while they shoot.
Another award-winning feature is ZHIYUN’s latest quick release technology, the V-shape design provides better working efficiency allowing quick interchange between any cameras used. While dual safety locks ensure the equipment always remains attached.
At just 549g, the CRANE-M2S impressed judges since it is as portable as a phone gimbal, but can hold cameras up to the Sony A7SIII with small prime lenses. The super lightweight body is combined with stronger motors and extended axes, making it a must-have for high velocity, run-and-gun filmmakers.
GOOD DESIGN is the first, oldest and longest running design prize in the world that honors all design achievements in all its disciplines: from product, packaging, communication and service design, architecture and interior architecture to user interface (UI), user experience (UX), and professional concept.
The highly-prized, highly anticipated, and highly-publicized awards are bestowed annually by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.
The competition evaluates product design, communication design, packaging design and concept designs by the world’s leading brands and sheds light on current trends emerging in the international design and manufacturing sectors.
ZHIYUN’s Head of R&D, said:
“At ZHIYUN, design innovation is key to the success of our products, and we are honoured to be awarded this prestigious recognition for our continuous R&D efforts in gimbal technology. It is our intention to continue to deliver even more novel product experiences to video creators, whether amateur or professional from around the world.”
Further information on CRANE M2S at the GOOD DESIGN® Awards can be found here.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has, this afternoon, been announced as the special guest for the 48th annual Business & Finance Awards. The event will take place at the Convention Centre in Dublin on Thursday, December 1st, and is expected to see more than 1,000 business, political and social leaders attend.
President Von Der Leyen, who has served as the Commission President since 2019, will travel to Ireland to accept the Sutherland Leadership Award. The accolade marks the 50th anniversary of Ireland joining the European Union, and recognises the EU’s contribution to the country across the last five decades.
Since its inception in 1974, the Business & Finance Awards Programme has honoured and hosted some of the most outstanding political and social leaders. This year, notable guests include:
An Taoiseach, Micheál Martin
Commissioner for Financial Services, Financial Stability and Capital Markets Union, Mairead McGuinness
Former Irish President, Mary Robinson
Former Taoiseach, Enda Kenny
Ukrainian Ambassador to Ireland, Larysa Gerasko
The Sutherland Leadership Award was established in 2018 with the support of the Sutherland Family to recognise outstanding international leaders who have embodied the values of one of Ireland’s and Europe’s finest leaders, Peter Sutherland. Since its inception, The Sutherland Leadership Award has recognised Henry (Hank) Paulson, 74th US Secretary of the Treasury & Founder of the Paulson Institute; José Manuel Barroso, former President of the European Commission; and Mario Draghi ,former President of the European Central Bank and Prime Minister of Italy.
Established in 1974, the Business & Finance Awards is the longest-running and most prestigious business awards programme in Ireland and is an important recognition platform for the Irish business community. The event serves to acknowledge and celebrate excellence in innovation, growth and scale of individual business leaders and their teams.
Now in its 48th year, the prestigious event will also see the winners announced across six categories – Company of the Year; Business Person of the Year; Diversity, Equality & Inclusion; ESG; Elevation; and FDI of the Year.
